Salt
by Couver
Summary: There's a new person in the house and they happen to be shiny, salty and blonde. It's possible that they'll survive, depending on Laura's mood of course.
1. Salt

**AN:** So along with the usual "I don't own this" stuff, I think that this spot really deserves to be given to the people that keep me writing and publishing. So thank you to all of the readers, people that favorite, and of course the reviewers including; ALLREMS, SithKnight-Galen, strayphoenix, Rose Gilmore, IronRaven, Indigo-Night-Wisp, TheBlueFoxTrot A Samba, All Knowing 1, nephreia, SweetestSong23, cool story brahw, moonrabbits and Glowing Green Turtle. Once again thank you for taking the time to read and actually review, it always makes me smile when I read your reviews and know that someone is enjoying the stories that would otherwise remain trapped in my mind.

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><p>Salt. There was a sudden increase in the amount of salt in the air. Since Laura was inside perched on her spot by the window, constantly watching for the faceless intruders that always appeared in her brief nightmares, it could only mean that the increase of salt was from inside of the house. There were several plausible situations that would explain for this sudden increase.<p>

Option one; someone was crying. Normally when someone was crying however it would be accompanied by usual amount of; yelling, stomping, raging hormones that sometimes caused the crying, and the desperate pleas for her to agree with one side or the other. She had discovered that leaving the mansion and hiding in the woods for several hours was the best way to avoid the headache that would always come. Since none of that had occurred and she wasn't aware of any recent injuries, breakups or the disbandment of any popular music group; it most likely wasn't crying. That and the salt content was higher than normal for the average crier. Crying was ruled out of the list of possibilities.

Option two; someone, most likely Kitty, was attempting to bake. The average kitchen related mistakes however were usually quickly given away by either a smoke alarm going off, an adult yelling about some mess, or any occupant running away from spotting Kitty in the kitchen. Since none of these things had occurred and she had yet to smell any smoke it appeared that they were all relatively safe from any kitchen mishaps.

Option three; someone new had entered the house. Her window faced the woods and not the main entrance, coupled with the fact that the door was open thanks to the good weather and the young mutants running around it was possible that someone could enter the house without her immediate knowledge, something that she would have to fix. The scent was familiar enough for her not to be too worried, at least immediately.

The need to know about the comings and goings of everyone in the house, and simple curiosity, led her to untangle herself from her sitting position and leave the quiet of her room. She quickly picked up the scent of her fellow housemates and the sound that always came in abundance when they gathered in one area; apparently they had spotted the newcomer.

"Cool, so you surf right? Hey are all of the girls there hot?"

Oh Bobby, she didn't need to hear his voice or smell his scent to know that it was him talking. If someone typed up his words and asked anyone in the house to guess the speaker it was highly likely that everyone would correctly guess the speaker as Bobby.

They were all gathered near the entrance at the base of the staircase and no one bothered to look up and notice her, they were far too busy taking in the newcomer and the source of the salty smell. He was tall and still growing, the tan he had combined with the current spring weather and Bobby's comment confirmed that he wasn't from the area, most likely West Coast or one of the islands. He was blonde, far too blonde and shiny for her liking; it would make him an easy target for others and she did not need another person to protect. At least he was a mutant, she could easily smell that on him, and he appeared to be physically fit although she wasn't sure if she could appreciate how he immediately relaxed in his new surroundings and didn't properly take them in. The resemblance between him and Scott was quite strong in their facial features, which was expected of brothers, their mannerisms however seemed drastically different. He hadn't done anything wrong per say, but if she had wanted to he would easily be dead in under twenty two seconds.

"Yeah I surf and the girls are alright, not bad here either though."

The newcomer smiled at Bobby and Laura was slightly relieved to hear that he was a surfer because on anyone else that accent would be pathetic; she had recently learned this new application of the word pathetic and was trying to use it the new settings she had been taught. She could now properly pin his location down to Hawaii, most likely the main one but she might have to double check. It was quite a beautiful place from what she remembered from her last mission there, there were also plenty of places to hide bodies if needed.

"Will you be staying here?"

Rahne asked and noticing the way her nose twitched Laura decided that the sea scent she had picked up earlier was also affecting Rahne now.

"Just a visit for now. Scott talked me into visiting by telling me it was basically a weeklong free vacation."

Well that was a relief, one less person to have to look out for and train, it was already irritating with the recent departure of Jubilee and she didn't need a clueless replacement right now.

"I'm trying to expose him to more mutants his age; he doesn't know of any other mutants on the island and needs some help with his powers."

Scott was one of the saner inhabitants of their home in Laura's eyes, at least when he wasn't allowing his emotions to control him, then it could get messy.

"Scott, you're supposed to bond with your brother, this isn't about work or recruiting."

Jean reprimanded Scott and with a simple look and crossing of her arms it appeared that she had at least momentarily won. Laura would have to investigate this power further, it appeared to be one that mates sometimes used on each other but could also be used by people in different types of relationships and varying amounts of power.

"Best way to bond is to avoid getting shot at a few times. Time a danger room session right about now."

Logan surprised the people downstairs but Laura had easily been alerted to his incoming, she had been slightly disappointed that Rahne hadn't noticed due to her better than average scent of smell.

"Oh come on Logan, the weather is great; we don't want to be cooped up in the danger room."

Ray argued on behalf of the young mutants. This could be considered brave since he was voicing the opinions of the majority of the group, it was deemed as stupid however since he was speaking to Logan.

"Ok kid, your choice. Danger room or you can all enjoy nature with one of my endurance courses, and then you can all camp out without any supplies and get in tune with your inner hippie while you scavenge for food."

The smarter ones didn't bother to hear all of Logan's second option, they were already racing off to change into their uniforms and escape punishment.

"I love the danger room, it's better than any place in the whole wide world."

Ray quickly retracted his earlier words with his pained declaration of love for the danger room and started to back off under Logan's knowing gaze.

"Feel free to join us kid, the group is going through some changes so we're still letting them get used to it. Right now it's basically like dodgeball, just with guns that pop out of walls and fire whatever I feel like."

Laura guessed that this was Logan's way of included the new and still unnamed mutant. Taking his reaction into account it didn't appear as if he understood Logan's ways which most likely meant that he would prove to be useless to her.

"Why not, it could be fun."

He shrugged and Laura found herself frowning, hopefully it wouldn't be a group exercise today. Hospitably would say that she protect the guest; logic however dictated that she protect her group members.

"You'll be in group two then, Laura will keep an eye out for you."

Logan nodded up at his young clone, finally revealing her presence to the others except for Jean who had been aware the entire time. The newcomer abruptly looked up, clearly surprised that someone else had been there but covered it up with a smile.

"Hey, I'm Alex Masters. I hope you don't mind if I tag along for the session today."

He smiled quite brightly and Laura was pleased to finally be able to put a name along with the other information she had already gathered about him.

"Laura Kinney. I do not have a say in the additions and removals of those that I practice with therefore your presence does not affect me too strongly. Is your power long, medium or short range, I would like to know for optimum performance and possibly lowering the amount of injuries that you will most likely receive."

Laura thought that she was being quite friendly. She had introduced herself, eased him of any worries and was already showing that she would treat him effectively as a team mate. Why then, did his face change so quickly and confusion spring up so quickly?

"Um, I shoot energy beam things from my hands."

His answer took slightly longer than she had wished for and didn't come in the format she had wished for but at least he had responded to her question.

"Good, you should be useful enough. I will see you at the danger room, I must go change now."

With that she left to go to her room, already thinking of effective ways to use him.

"Sorry about Laura, we're working on her social skills."

Scott explained to his younger brother but simply received a look from Logan who in turn was given a look of surprise from Jean.

"Logan, don't think things like that!"

In-between the looks, glares and grunts shared among the older group Alex sighed slightly to himself, wondering just why he had believed his brother when he had used the word 'vacation'.

He had watched the other group go first along with those that would apparently be on his group. Laura hadn't appeared to be affected by anything but took careful note of everything. Bobby was taking great pleasure in laughing at Ray who was in the first group while Amara looked slightly scared and Rahne comforted her.

Watching Jamie and his duplicates run around while Jay was stuck in a cage which Roberto was trying to cut down wasn't lifting Alex's spirits. It could be worse, he might end up like Tabitha whom had been hit right away and was stuck quite high up the wall with some sort of sticky green substance. Glancing at Laura he was also worried about what she would think about his first attempt at the danger room. Sure she freaked him out slightly but she was interesting and different for the usual surfer girl that he met; she was also someone that he felt the need to earn approval from for some reason.

Roberto apparently won the session since he hadn't been hit and unlike Jamie had actually tried to help out his team mates instead of running around like a headless chicken as Logan so eloquently put it with the usual amount of hard looks and grunts mixed in. As the second group was heading down to take their turn Alex found himself fidgeting slightly with his uniform till a look from Laura stopped his movements.

"Magma, you will provide backup for Wolfsbane and the two of you will work together. Iceman, try not to show off and get tagged out. You will focus on the higher targets since your control is better than Magma's at the moment and I have yet to see how much control Alex has. Alex, you will remain by my side and follow my every word with no questions asked. I think that both your brother and yourself, not to mention your family, would prefer if you returned home in as close to the same condition as you left."

The others appeared to listen to her. Amara looked relieved instead of annoyed that her control had been considered less than that of Bobby's. Rhane looked pleased as well and Bobby of course was quite happy with her words, her comment about showing off clearly forgotten.

"It's Havok you know."

Alex spoke up and surprised her slightly, normally at this point Bobby would say something irritating that would allow the others to forget any nervousness or someone would attempt some form of group cheer.

"If you insist, I would have chosen Salt."

Her words confused him, the others as well but they were used to her manners by now. Only Rahne understood her at the moment and grinned as she twitched her nose knowingly at her team mate.

He wasn't given time to ask her anything because as soon as they entered the room he was abruptly pushed down to avoid a fate similar to Tabitha's. Scrambling up he noticed that Bobby had iced up, Amara had turned into fire and Rahne of course was in her canine form. Even in that situation he felt slight jealously over the fact that everyone else now looked cool, at least Laura still looked normal. His earlier thought was quickly proven wrong when claws appeared from her hands as she protected him from yet another hit.

"Up. Stay close and cover my back."

Her words shook him out of his momentary daze and for some reason he felt proud that she had asked, technically told, him to cover her back; that showed some form of trust and belief, right? The first few moments were awkward with her promptly bringing down everything around them and Alex slightly scared to shoot in case she was hit in the process. His moment finally came when he managed to hit a gun that had appeared while she had been busy with a few robotic arms. After that it appeared that she actually started to give herself more freedom and trusted him enough to not constantly glance back at him.

He found himself enjoying the sudden raise in temperature when Amara saved him from a possible hit and riding on the ice slide that Bobby had made was also surprisingly fun even with the barrage of attacks. When Bobby was hit and promptly trapped however; Laura managed to pop up out what appeared to be nowhere and quickly save Alex from a similar fate. Watching her fight he wasn't surprised at her agility and strength; when she managed to pick him up slightly and toss him safely to the side however he was still surprised, only the fact that she had used the ice slide for help kept his ego from getting too bruised.

"Guys! Bit of help!"

Bobby's call for help distracted Amara enough that Rahne was caught as well and they were suddenly two players down. Bobby was stuck in the sticky substance that normally he would help others escape from and Rahne was trapped in a cage that had shrunk to keep her from changing back. It was always better if Bobby didn't meet up with Amara or Roberto while in his ice form and the metal would conduct heat for too easily for Amara to be of much help.

"Havok, get him out of there."

Alex was caught off guard yet again but instead of questioning or arguing safety he did as he was told, not without some nervousness of course.

Bobby actually cringed slightly at how close Alex was cutting it but when he stopped Bobby found that he had enough mobility to freeze himself out.

"Iceman, the lock of Wolfsbane cage, nothing fancy!"

Bobby, now happy to be free was quick to zip down to the girls where Amara had stuck by Rahne and fought off any other surprises. A quick freeze and the metal became brittle enough to break.

Somehow they all managed to survive the rest of the session and after Logan's talk, where Alex had been surprised enough to earn what he was told was praise, and after Bobby had properly teased his friends on the other team they headed to the change rooms. It was interesting for Alex to be around so many other mutants his age that seemed to be perfectly fine with their powers and working on controlling them. In some ways they were similar to his friends back home; goofing off, playful teasing, casual comments about a girl here and there and of course their thoughts of their favorite television shows. It was surprisingly normal; not what he had expected when he had first heard about a mutant school with mutant ball, a danger room and high tech transportation.

Alex was the first to leave, thinking that his brother would most likely want to know his thoughts and make sure that he was alive and not too bruised up mainly thanks to Laura's helpful pushes. Instead of heading out to look for his brother right away however he stopped when he spotted Laura heading off.

"Hey! Wait up!"

He called after her and she awkwardly stopped, glancing around to make sure that she was the one intended to stop her actions and apparently wait for him to catch up.

"I just wanted to say thanks for saving me back there, and I hope I didn't drag you guys down too much. I actually had fun."

He smiled brightly at her and flipped his hair slightly while she looked at him in a generally blank manner.

"You proved to be more useful than initially thought. You do need to however; work on your control and sense of space among other things. We were not held back by your presence and I do not think that I would mind if you wished to join us again. You will however most likely wish to use an icepack on your bruises."

Her voice was as calm and flat as it had been earlier and for some reason Alex found himself enjoying the straightforward fluidity of her voice.

"Cool, thanks. Oh do you know where Scott is by any chance?"

He stuck the question out either in a desperate attempt to say something or because he thought she could actually help; even he wasn't sure which one was true. Instead of directing him off in some random direction she lifted her head slightly, inhaled and nodded.

"He is currently in the kitchen with Jean. You will most likely wish to knock before you enter however."

With that she nodded and left him to go catch up with his brother. Maybe this place wasn't so weird or as bad as he initially thought, and maybe Scott wasn't the only person in the place that he would like to visit. Now he just had to figure out why she had called him salt.


	2. Clouds

**AN:** Confession time, this was originally supposed to be a one shot and I just forgot to put it under complete. Which is why I was so surprised when I received an alert that someone had signed up to get alerts for story updates. Honestly I thought the person was confused, then I felt guilty, then someone else did the same thing and I knew I saying that I made a mistake wouldn't work. So because of my mistake and because of eager readers that I am constantly amazed I have I'm putting this up. There'll probably only be one or two more chapters to this but I already have an idea about another fun exchange. Quick warning though that I already have little plot bunny babies about two other stories for two different topics but we'll see how it goes. So thank you, sorry for the mistake, and all reviews and favorites are highly appreciated as always. =)

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><p>Alex Masters knew his manners; his mother had made sure of that. He always said please and thank you, was quick to apologize and was just as quick to accept an apology. When he was seven he had been the only boy not to tug on the ponytail of the girl he liked, instead he had started surfing to try and impress her. In the end he didn't get the girl because he had been too busy surfing to pay attention to her, he didn't mind though, he barely even noticed. He knew that there were guidelines to being a good guest, something else that his mother made sure he knew, and he was quite sure that he was following those guidelines. Alex engaged in the activities going on in the mansion but didn't force his company upon anyone, ate whatever was given to him, except for anything touched by Kitty for safety reasons, and helped out wherever he could. His mother had taught him how to be a good person and how to act in certain situations; she had never taught him how to act when one of your hosts' started sleeping outside because of you.<p>

Laura was sleeping outside, in a tree, because of him.

What made the situation odder still, because apparently it _could_ in fact get odder, was that no one else seemed to be surprised or worried about her new sleeping arrangement. Apparently it was normal for her to do this whenever someone new came into the house. Alex was still trying to understand just how this could be normal, maybe it was a mainlander thing, or a mutant thing, or more likely just an X-Men thing. After deciding that it was some odd X-Men thing, he tried to decide which part made less sense; the fact that Laura was sleeping outside, or the fact that no one else seemed to be bothered by it.

"Look man, you're cool and all but you're more stuck on this than a tongue to a pole. At least when some guy gets stuck to a pole it's funny."

Bobby had been quick to fill him in on everything around the house; which actors to avoid saying were lacking in talent around some of the students, what seats not to take because they had already been claimed by others like Logan and of course the best video games and those you wouldn't want to play against. He had even been the one to explain during breakfast that Laura was in fact coming from the woods and he wasn't just imagining it, after another bite of his waffle Bobby casually mentioned that it was normal. After that bit of information about Laura however, Bobby's well of information appeared to run dry.

"Sorry, it's just not exactly normal, you were probably confused when you first came and she started sleeping outside."

Alex apologized out of habit but Bobby barely seemed to notice, as long as Alex was focusing enough on the racing game he was happy.

"Huh? Nah, I was here before her. When she first came here it took a month or something before she was comfortable enough to sleep in the house, not sure if she actually slept in the beginning though."

Finally, a day after first learning about her sleeping habit he had some new information about Laura. If he hadn't been busy trying to think it all out he might have noticed that this small bit of information about Laura was getting a bigger reaction out of him than most things had.

"Do you know why?"

Now Alex was making sure that he was showing more effort in the racing game, it made Bobby happier which made him more likely to remember something about Laura.

"No clue. Logan and the Professor helped her out I guess. Might have something to do with her being a clone, probably because they got the genes from Logan, no clue why someone would want to clone him though. Personally I think that if there is cloning it should be of supermodels, not angsty, hairy men."

Bobby didn't appear distracted or as if he even cared much about what he had said till a few moments later while Alex was still trying to decide if Bobby was telling the truth.

"Oh damn. I don't think we're supposed to say that to others. Oh well, you're cool and you're one of us so it's not a big deal I guess. Just don't tell anyone I told you."

Bobby actually glanced away from the game to look at Alex and that was how Alex knew that it wasn't some odd joke.

"You don't have to worry about me."

Alex reassured him but Bobby's attention was already back on the game.

"Yes! I win! Want to play again?"

The next time Alex tried to talk to Bobby about Laura he had promptly been told that if he wanted to talk he should ask one of the girls and give his game controller to someone else. After that Alex decided not to bother Bobby with more questions unless they had something to do with video games, it was safer.

That started Alex off on his hunt for information, something he couldn't just forget. Tabitha was extremely unhelpful, she hadn't looked too pleased about having Laura mentioned and the energy balls she "accidentally" tossed in his direction said as much. Amara had tried to help but didn't exactly have anything too interesting to say unless he started to take attention in her style, or according to Amara, her lack of it. Rahne could only really say that Laura was quiet but nice in her odd, and sometimes scary, way. Kitty, honestly he wished he hadn't asked the girl because once she started answering him she managed to get sidetracked so many times he was left with a headache. In desperation he had turned to Jean, he had wanted to avoid asking her in case she mentioned something to Scott and he blew it out of proportion, but he was becoming desperate. Besides, not only was Jean the easiest to have a serious conversation with, but her telepathic ways could be useful to him; she probably knew the most about Laura.

He was wrong.

"Alex, what you are proposing is morally wrong. I do not use my powers unless I have to; otherwise it's an invasion of privacy."

He had been expecting answers, not a scolding.

"Sorry Jean, I guess I was just hoping you knew something about her."

Jean sighed as she closed her book, clearly taking pity on him.

"There is someone is this house that knows just about everything about Laura."

He instantly perked up at her words and stood a bit straighter, leaning in slightly as if he could use telepathy and get the answer from her even faster.

"If you want to know about Laura, just ask Laura."

Jean grinned as Alex simply blinked at her in confusion. She was one of the most logical and resourceful residents and this was the best she could come up with? Alex guessed that this was better than her suggesting that he ask Logan, he had heard enough and seen enough that he knew he didn't want to ask Logan anything.

"If you're too scared then that just means that you're not as interested as you thought you were."

She looked quite proud of herself for promptly shutting him up and for helping him put on that look of determination that was eerily identical to the one Scott commonly wore during missions.

"I am not scared of talking to Laura."

Alex seemed to have switched on the Summers mission outlook that had previously been hidden by his usually easy going attitude.

"Then do it."

Jean was practically daring him to do it and that was enough. Age barely mattered, being a mutant or a human made no difference; boys would always be boys and if you made it seem like a dare, they would do it.

"I will. See you later Jean."

She was quite proud of herself as he walked away, so much so that she wouldn't even tell Scott about her more than likely quite accurate suspicions, Alex deserved a head start and she deserved time to prepare herself for dealing with a confused and worried Scott.

Alex knew he had to hurry, he was feeling confident now but he wasn't foolish enough to believe that it would last for long. Now if only he could find Laura before he started to doubt himself, which could prove to be difficult. Unfortunately he didn't have her sense of smell or hearing and asking others for help would most likely prove to be unhelpful and embarrassing. He just had to figure out where she was, in a large mansion on a very large plot of land, that is if she was even there. Alex was starting to lose some of his confidence already. No, that wouldn't do, he had to think more positively if he wanted to stand a chance of finding her and finally figuring out why she was sleeping outside.

Outside.

Damn he was clueless. Most of the residents were in the living room and he guessed that the noise they were making was too strong for her liking, it probably had something to do with the cranked up volume on the television and the cheering for the two people competing on what sounded like DDR. It was surprising how intense they could be for that dance game, the rivalry between Kitty and Kurt was apparently legendary and always drew a crowd.

First step, go outside; check. Now he had to decide where to go which wasn't the easiest thing. There was the forest, which as expected, was quite large; she might have headed to the garden or one of the fields, she might not even be outside but be in the danger room or even in town. Maybe he could ask Jean; no, that would feel like cheating and Jean would be too amused. Instead he picked a direction at random and started to head toward it, it was a good as a guess as any.

Alex made sure to keep his eyes open and his attention high, till he became distracted by a cloud that looked like a killer wave. Maybe he could find one that looked like a surfboard. A movement from the corner of his eye distracted him from his cloud gazing and led his gaze toward the roof of the mansion. He could only think of one person that would rather be hanging off of a roof than watching a DDR battle.

Now he had found her, or at least was quite sure that he had, he just had to find a way to get up to her. It was at this moment that he decided that shooting plasma thingies wasn't very useful in real life. Sure, if he joined the X-Men and was battling against whoever it was that they battled against it would be useful, but in real life he couldn't even roast marshmallows. Since he couldn't spot a ladder of sorts or even a tree he didn't bother trying to climb up from the outside, he didn't want to give her time to run off and instead ran back inside. With the amount of attention around the video game battle anyone could have ran inside and bolted up the stairs without them bothering to pay attention. It would really suck, he decided, if he managed to get up on the roof and she wasn't there, that and if he became stuck or someone else was there instead it would be quite embarrassing. Alex didn't dwell too much on the possibility though; he was too busy with one leg already out of the window and one hand blindly searching for a hand hold.

Trellises, Alex learned, were stronger than they looked, unfortunately not strong enough as he found out. Although he could have attempted to pull himself up just from the window ledge he was standing on it would be better if he could climb just a bit higher, which was the reason why half of his body was tentatively pushing itself up with help from the trellis that was starting to protest. At least no one was around to spot him in what he expected looked like a foolish and hilarious position. One hand gripped the edge of the roof firmly and he steadied himself before quickly shifting the majority of his weight on the trellis before quickly pulling himself up. The snap he heard bellow him would have made him grimace if he wasn't already preoccupied trying to pull his lower half to safety.

He fell, thankfully on the correct side but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt. Letting out a sigh of relief as he sat up and rubbed his arm which had helped break his short fall, he glanced up only to be surprised again by staring eyes.

"Why didn't you help me?"

Alex questioned before he could think of anything else or even wonder as to why he was surprised, he _had_ climbed up here to see her. Laura simply blinked in a way he found similar to the stray cat that hung around his house, slow and lazy but with all of the answers in the world.

"You did not appear to need help. If you had required assistance it would have been provided but I have learned that some do not wish to receive assistance unless absolutely mandatory and even then they are not grateful. I have yet to learn why this is though."

She spoke in her usual level tone that was like her very own accent, considering that she acted as if she were from her own little world it made sense that she would have her own accent.

"Sorry, I guess I'm still surprised that I did that. Oh and it's pride, that's why some people don't want help."

"Pride, I think I understand, thank you for your assistance with my question."

She nodded as he finally sat up only to slowly sit down on the edge of the roof.

"I have a question for you Laura. Why are you sleeping in the woods because of me?"

His question seemed to catch her off guard slightly, if one were to catch the way her eye flickered faster than normal of course. Instead of answering she watched him carefully, almost as if she were sizing him up like she had the first time she had seen him.

"I answered your question; you could at least answer mine."

He surprised her again but she seemed to accept it this time and nodded again.

"I do not wish to frighten you. My answer may frighten you to the point that you will no longer wish to visit your brother which would in turn make him unhappy as well. I do not wish to do that."

Alex knew that a normal person would have taken her advice into account and perhaps backed off or even left, he was slowly starting to discover that he didn't want to be the normal person in regards to Laura.

"You can't scare me away that easily."

He grinned widely to reassure her but her face barely flickered in acknowledgement.

"Whenever a new person is introduced to the household my nightmares become stronger. Although they are a regular enough occurrence when they are stronger I sometimes act out physically without being aware of my actions. For the safety of all of those around and in particular the new person I sleep in the woods. That way I am less likely to act out and if I do the worst that will happen will happen to the trees and to myself."

"I'm sorry."

This time even he noticed her surprise at his words as she shifted slightly.

"Why is it that you are apologizing to me?"

Now it was his turn to be confused.

"Because I'm apparently making your nightmares worse and I'm the reason why you're sleeping in the woods."

Laura took a moment to process the information while he watched her carefully, wondering how someone like her could come from Logans DNA.

"It is, ok. You do not wish any discomfort or harm upon me therefore I should not hold these precautions against you."

Although she paused slightly, still trying to adjust to speaking like someone her age, she seemed quite confident in her words which did reassure him slightly, not that they took the guilt off of him.

"How long does it take? For you to adjust to someone new that is."

His series of questions toward her was quite unfamiliar to her. Normally the other students only spoke to her about training or homework and even then it was quite brief, the only questions she had received that could be connected to her well-being had come from the staff. She had yet to decide how she felt about this.

"On average it takes one week for my nightmares to return to normal and for the possibility of causing harm to others to subside. I am trying to lessen my time however."

For a reason that she could not understand he seemed quite pleased with her words and patted the spot next to him. She had seen others do that to invite another to sit beside them or to call a dog over, she judged that he was using the action in the first situation rather than in the later. None of this meant however that she wasn't slightly cautious when she slowly moved to sit beside him. Alex didn't mind too much though, it allowed him to observe her movements which were usually too quick for him to pick up on when they were in the danger room. She was fluid like a wave and walked as if she were on one as well, he wouldn't have been surprised if she told him that her power included walking on air and commanding it, honestly little could surprise him about her. When she sat down she left a polite gap between them but was close, most likely to catch him if his balance decided to fail. Upon sitting she turned to look at him, clearly wondering what was supposed to happen next.

"What can I do to make your nightmares die down faster?"

Laura still eyed him carefully as she considered her previous experiences with newcomers and her nightmares.

"I am not sure. Previous guests and newcomers did little to differentiate themselves from the others, yet my adjustment period has gone down, generally through my own will and with initial help from the Professor and Logan."

"Would it help if you knew more about me?"

Once more she considered his question carefully while comparing him to an eager puppy in her mind.

"I do not believe so, I have read files upon most of the previous guests and newcomers and even though I knew more about them than most it did little to help."

Alex decided not to ask where she had gotten the files from, or if she had read his, or if he even had one.

"What about spending time together. Maybe if you got used to me it would help."

He really hoped that she didn't shoot down this suggestion as she had with the other.

"I do not know if that will help but it will not do any harm."

Laura finally decided and Alex took her answer as a yes, mainly because she was still sitting beside him and hadn't left.

"Great!"

He blushed at his enthusiasm but Laura barely appeared to notice except for the slight change in his body including his flushed cheeks and barely raised heartbeat. She simply considered this as something that was most likely a normal occurrence for a male teenager.

"So um, do you want to ask anything. Since I've been asking you everything and stuff."

Interesting, questions were apparently expected to be directed from either side, this was new to her. Not wanting to appear rude she asked one of the first questions that came up to mind.

"What were you searching for in regards to the sky? Were you perhaps reading the weather based off of the cloud formation because I will inform you now that with Ororos' presence nature does not always behave in the expected manner."

Alex blinked a bit at her question, it hadn't exactly been what he expected but it made sense coming from her for some reason.

"I was just looking for different shapes; I found one that looked like a wave."

His words felt quite childish on his tongue and to his ears, especially in contrast to the way Laura spoke. Laura on the other hand was now busy looking at the clouds herself, trying to spot the one that he had deemed looked like a wave, maybe if he had informed her of what type of wave her search would be easier.

"I am not able to find this wave cloud that you speak of."

She glanced at him for assistance before looking back up. Now he was trying as well but could no longer spot it.

"I can't find it now either. Oh well, we can always find others. That one over there looks like a duck head."

Laura followed his finger to the cloud but no matter how much she squinted or moved her head all she saw was the cloud, she could have informed him of the type and other scientific information but she now found this all lacking since she couldn't spot the duck head in it.

"I do not see what it is that you are seeing. I am not sure if I am able to engage in this activity properly."

She actually felt slightly saddened by it for some reason, most likely her desire to be able to reclaim her life fully and act like a teenager might, maybe without the charged up hormones however, that didn't look too pleasant to her.

"It's not hard; it's like looking at those ink stains and saying what they remind you of."

"Then do you mean to say that you impose a familiar object to a generally random shape and then analyze yourself?"

He blinked again before shaking his head only to stop in confusion, wondering how to explain it to her.

"It's just for fun, the shapes you spot are usually the ones you're looking for or expect to see. There's no self-analyzing in cloud watching."

Although she still couldn't spot any images in the clouds, except for upcoming rain unless Ororo changed it, it didn't bother her as much.

"I have another question if you do not mind."

Her voice snapped him out of his search for a cloud that she could see something in and back to her.

"Fire away."

His wording confused her for a moment before she recognized it as another way of giving his consent to her asking her question.

"Why did you climb through a window to reach the roof when there is a staircase that leads to it?"

His eyes widened and out of all of the things she had said to him this surprised him the most. When she pointed out the door on the roof that was still open he promptly whacked himself on the forehead with his hand, momentarily forgetting that she was there.

"Did you perhaps not know that it existed?"

Laura didn't consider it a new question; it was simply an extension of her earlier one.

"Judging by your surprise and failure to respond I will consider myself correct and will also dare to say that you do not wish to speak about this because of the earlier mentioned pride. Am I correct?"

Instead of speaking he simply nodded slowly, at least he didn't have to worry about getting back down.


	3. Jars

**AN:** Happy New Years everyone! Sorry for any mistakes, I wanted to rush and get one last chapter in for 2011.

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><p>Alex considered it quite the accomplishment when two days later at breakfast he didn't spot any dirt stains or forgotten twigs on Laura. No one else really understood why he was smiling more than normal or appeared to be so proud of himself that day, even Laura was confused over his attitude and asked if he was feeling fine before they entered the danger room. To his credit he wasn't as distracted during the simulation as Laura had expected him to be, the amount of times she had to knock him over that session met the average but his exaggerated motions to show his pain afterwards did decrease. His small mental high over the fact that Laura was no longer sleeping outside was quickly broken by none other than Laura herself.<p>

He was entering the kitchen, fighting off robots could make anyone work up an appetite, when he spotted Laura already perched up on her bar stool at the end with a glass of water. During a previous chat she had explained the strategic reasons behind her choice in seat. Normally when she spoke about strategic methods, procedures or possible training plans the others would cut her off, smile awkwardly and leave while claiming that they were heading off to finish a task. Alex simply listened and nodded, even though she could tell that he didn't fully understand everything it was still nice of him. Being able to speak and relay her thought process without scaring anyone off was a pleasant change and made her feel relatively normal.

"Hey Laura."

He greeted her pleasantly and found himself quickly checking how much water was left in her glass.

"Hello Alex."

She politely nodded in his direction as he headed to the fridge. Something she had noticed was that there was an almost ritual like behaviour associated with the fridge. People would open the door simply to stare at the contents for a long period of time, then they would close it, comment that there was nothing to eat only to open the doors several times afterwards before finally settling on their food choice. As far as Laura was aware no one in the house possessed the ability to conjure food products yet they all acted as if they could.

"The danger room session was pretty good. Maybe we could add in some team moves, you know, double attacks or whatever they're called."

Alex glanced away from his food choices to look at Laura whose face had barely moved.

"Moves executed using two or more people are quite effective once properly executed. However since the groupings have yet to be set and your own placement is temporary it would be quite pointless, and for some of the other students confusing, to do so."

She barely blinked as she spoke to him while his own face fell. His week-long trip was almost over and it felt like several months had passed within the span of hours. Instead of fully allowing her to see how much her words had affected him he turned back to looking inside the fridge; now looking for food and a way to stick around longer.

"You are aware that you will be leaving the mansion the day after tomorrow. Perhaps you should purchase a calendar to better keep track of the days and any arrangements you may have on them."

Her attempts at helping him simply made him stick his head farther into the fridge which only confused her. Some sort of reaction should be expected from her words and he appeared to have not heard her, something that she knew wasn't possible since he had moments before. Perhaps he wished to be alone at the moment, either way she was expected elsewhere and although she was content with silence she did not appreciate it when others senselessly ignore her.

"I shall be leaving now, enjoy your meal."

This time her words got a reaction and Alex bumped his head while taking it out of the fridge. By the time he was no longer rubbing his head and could finally "casually" nod in her direction, she had already put her glass away and was paused at the door. He was left alone after that to muse and stare at the fridge.

It was true that he enjoyed spending time with everyone at the mansion and even the danger room had grown on him. Still, he couldn't wait to go home and finally be able to hit the waves again with a few of his friends. He could always visit, maybe during breaks when he felt like dodging an assortment of laser beams. Alex quickly tossed away these thoughts that proved to be sadder and more confusing than expected when Ray invited him to join the group in watching a movie. It was harder to think about leaving people when a movie full of explosions and fast cars was right in front of you.

Alex had properly managed to keep the thoughts, which would soon lead to picking between people and lives, at bay when Rahne walked in with a small jar of dirt. He surprised himself with the amount of self-control he possessed because even though she was practically hugging her jar of dirt he actually managed to keep himself from laughing; that didn't mean that the others were as successful.

"Um Rahne, you are aware of what's in the jar right?"

Roberto, being the least likely to start laughing randomly, was of course the one to ask. It was better not to laugh at Rahne sometimes, mainly because she had a habit of "playfully" biting people to the point where fingers and arms weren't safe around her.

"Of course I am, I can properly identify everything in the jar."

The way she hugged the jar closer and smiled brightly at the group simply brought along more snickers that were quickly covered up. Rahne simply rolled her eyes at them.

"Whatever guys, Laura has been helping me sharpen my skills and when one of you is lost or we need to track down some bad guy, I'll be the one doing it."

With that said she proudly held her jar of dirt close to her and left the room with her chin slightly higher in the air.

"This either proves that Laura is crazy, or she actually has a wicked sense of humor."

Bobby shook his head slightly, clearly not bothered by which of the options he gave was truer as long as he was amused.

"I think Laura is actually helping her, they both have enhanced senses so it makes sense."

Roberto was once again the one deemed most responsible out of the group and was the first to turn his attention back to trying to find a good movie. No one really bothered to comment about either girl, or the jar of dirt, after all trying to decide between a movie or a game was much more important.

Thankfully the jar of dirt had been left behind when dinner time came around; however the unspoken rule that there must be one odd thing going on at all times was of course intact. This was probably why the girls had small vials of leaves, bark and water in front of them. Between bites they tested each other, well mainly Rahne was tested and Laura was left to explain and correct any mistakes. At first it just sounded odd as they would ramble off about the samples in the vials; soil from near the garden, elm twig, birch bark, burned ash leaf, after that it became even odder. It took a while before the others realized that the girls were now identifying the places that everyone in the room had been according to their scent, they started to clear out after that.

It was most likely because of the increase in awareness about how enhanced her senses really were that he felt slightly awkward when he was left to wash to dishes with her after dinner. Someone really had to speak to Professor Xavier about making some updates to the mansion; Alex highly doubted that someone could afford a jet but not a dishwasher.

Laura washed, claiming that she was more effective and didn't suffer from prune hands like the others, while Alex dried and put the dishes away. The silence only lasted for a few minutes before Alex finally broke it, he still wasn't used to silence.

"It's nice, what you're doing, with Rahne I mean."

He stumbled over his words while pretending to busy himself with straightening the cutlery. His attempt at avoiding immediate eye contact proved to be completely ineffective; he could still feel her eyes on him and was practically drawn into turning around to face her. Laura simply watched him carefully before nodding slightly.

"It is beneficial to the entire team for each member to be as efficient as possible. By aiding Rahne in honing her senses I am simply doing what would be expected of any member of the team."

She nodded again, something she usually did after she finished speaking as if to confirm her words both to the listener and to herself.

"Well yeah, but it's still nice."

Now she looked confused at his words and gave him a questioning look.

"It is considered nice when one does their duty? It seems pointless, that one is praised as being kind for doing what is expected of them."

She was frowning now as she washed the suds off of one of the plates and mechanically, but carefully, handed it over to Alex who was trying to think of a way to explain himself; never before had he had to work so hard to compliment someone.

"I guess it's more the way you're doing it. You're taking the time out and you seem to be a great teacher seeing how happy Rahne is carrying around a jar of dirt. I mean, you can get the job done but you get the job done and are nice about it."

Now he was frowning as he replayed his own words in his head, trying to see if they made sense. Laura on the other hand seemed to understand what he was attempting to say as she turned her focus onto a bowl.

"Thank you; that is the correct response correct?"

Alex was caught off guard slightly and simply nodded before he could say something that would confuse both of them. Of course the now comfortable silence couldn't last for long.

"Doesn't it get annoying though, having super strong senses like smell in places like this?"

He was ready to explain himself or simply wave his question off, maybe he should have just turned the radio on to fill the silence, but Laura actually answered him.

"There are strong odours that on occasion aid in giving me a headache or manage to confuse me. However when that occurs I over ride that scent with another one, coffee beans for example are quite good in that situation."

As always her answers were thoughtful, logical and properly answered his question which in turn made him have even more questions.

"What are your favourite scents? I guess we all have the typical ones but they might be annoying to you and stuff."

Laura was starting to believe that this unorganized method of asking questions was normal, at least when the questions were coming from Alex. It did still confuse her however how he seemed to change from a calm person to appearing as frantic as the cartoon squirrel had after being given a caffeinated beverage in such a short amount of time.

"I enjoy natural scents since anything chemically altered can become an irritant. That is also why I enjoy being outside on a regular basis, leaving populated areas for the woods acts as a form of detox."

Another nod was given by her along with another plate before she realized that he had fallen behind and took it upon herself to help him catch up. An extra towel was quickly found and in silence the finished drying the last few plates and bowls before returning them to their proper place.

"Thanks Laura."

He smiled as the job was finally finished and they moved to go their own ways. Yet again she nodded as she paused in front of the door.

"You are welcome."

One more nod and a small smile and she left him alone in the kitchen. The sound of friendly chatter was drawing him toward the living room but his eye caught something else and before he could change his mind he was off.

Laura stopped in her tracks as she looked down the corridor with a slight frown, she was absolutely positive that she had correctly identified the scent and that it did not belong in this area. There was no threat but it was still considered inappropriate and it would be best if she corrected the mistake before disciplinary action was taken. She followed the scent and her frown became greater as it led her to a door, her door. Another sniff told her that the scent was about an hour old but that didn't keep her frown from leaving her face. What she saw when she entered her room however did take her frown away.

She was extremely organized, Logan had even joked that dust didn't appear unless she gave it permission to land in that exact spot, which made it even easier to spot the already quite obvious changes to her room. Small jars were placed around her room and each contained something from outside; twigs, flowers, grass and even a few water samples. Laura inhaled deeply and found herself closing her eyes and smiling slightly. Her eyes snapped open when she remembered that she still had to correct a mistake and closed the door behind her, she would decide what to do with the changes later.

As always the specific scent was quite easy to pick out but even then she didn't have to rely on any of her trained skills to track him down, anyone that could hear or had ever known a teenage boy would have a good guess as to where to find him. He appeared to have been waiting for her when she appeared by the doorway; while the others were enjoying themselves and wondering if the Professor would actually allow Kitty to drive them to school, he was watching the door. Of course he stood up as soon as he saw her and headed over to her, barely attracting any attention since the others were now sharing survival stories about Kitty and her cooking.

They walked in silence to the front yard and she even allowed him to keep pace with her instead of her usual insistence that she was always at least half a step ahead of the others. The silence broke when she spun around on her heels and faced him directly.

"You should be aware by now that you are not allowed to be in the wing housing the female students except in the case of an emergency."

If her expression hadn't been so passive and her voice as soft and clear as normal Alex would have felt as if he were being properly scolded. It did however just slightly annoy him that she had drawn attention to the fact that he had been where he technically wasn't supposed to be but had yet to say anything about what he had done.

"Did you like the jars?"

He blurted out before she could say anything else and she pulled her head back slightly in surprise at his sudden words.

"Rahne helped me pick samples and stuff but I thought that it could help you out at least a bit. Maybe you won't have to go off to the woods to clear your head as much or something."

He continued in the same stumbling but determined manner that he seemed to adopt when he was around her.

"I guess it would be like aromatherapy, or reverse aromatherapy, I'm not really sure but it seems like something that you would like so–"

She stopped him by raising her hand just as a student might when asking a question from a teacher.

"I do not find it enjoyable when others enter my room without my permission or when they alter my room in any way. My room is organized for efficiency and to keep any breakables safe from any accidents."

His face fell almost comically with every passing word and he really regretted not joining the others when he had ran off to ask Rahne for help with his little project.

"Your actions could be considered rude in several cultures including ours and also go against what is expected of everyone at Xavier's. I do however understand that you meant well with your actions and although I will have to reorganize the room I do appreciate your attempt at making me feel comfortable. Your actions can be defined as sweet if I have properly understood the use of the word in this form and your thought process behind your actions."

Another nod and he now knew that she was done talking but wasn't really sure about what she thought about what had happened.

"Sorry Laura I was just trying to help, next time I have an idea I'll just tell you about it straight away instead of going off and doing things."

She was frowning again but in confusion this time.

"I am not angry at your actions, even if they do go against the rules. You spent the majority of your last day at the mansion to attempt to help me, that is not something that one should be angry about. Thank you Alex."

Her words surprised him but the soft smile she gave him had him smiling like a fool.

"I'd offer to help you reorganize your room and stuff but since I'm not allowed there I guess I can't."

Yet again he spoke mainly to say something and it was something that Laura was starting to understand.

"No, you are not allowed in that area; however if you wish you may accompany me to the woods. It is time for my security check and I think it would be useful if I explained several plants to you, I noticed poison ivy in one of the jars."

A small almost teasing grin came up at her last words and Alex looked down at his hand which he had been rubbing against his leg and was an odd shade of red.

"Sounds great, do you mind if we stop by somewhere to take care of my hand first though?"

She nodded yet again with that small almost faint smile of hers as she led the way back inside, already explaining the effects of poison ivy and how to treat it. It was slightly ridiculous Alex decided, that he considered himself just as happy while she was explaining that poison ivy wasn't actually a member of the ivy family as when he was out surfing with his friends. He doubted that having odd thoughts such as this was from the poison ivy.


	4. Normal

**AN:** Ah, this has been a long time coming and I am so sorry and so grateful for everyone that stuck by, especially considering the fact that this was an accidental series instead of the intended one shot. I could tell you stories about half started endings that were ruined on multiple occasions due to computer problems following me on three different continents but I would rather just thank all of you. This is my first completed non one shot and it would not have been possible without all of the readers and amazing reviews that encouraged me throughout everything. Thank you and I hope you enjoy. =)

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><p>It was quiet. Music was playing from his laptop, the television in his room was turned on and he could even hear the neighbourhood kids playing and arguing with each other. It was still too quiet.<p>

When he had returned home he had caught up with friends, caught some amazing waves, crashed a few times, and returned to his regular schedule. It was easy enough and the bruises on his body were decreasing at a decent pace. In short it was quiet and dull. It didn't matter how many times he hit the beach or how many bonfires he attended with his friends, it was still too quiet, too, for the lack of a better word, blah.

Falling back on his bed he stared at his bedroom ceiling as the program playing in the background went to commercial; even the overly excited screaming person was still too dull and simple. Stretching he ended up staring at his hands. With a bit of concentration he called forth enough energy to make his hands glow slightly which in turn brought forth the pleasant warmth accompanied with his power. Alex allowed his power to fade back to the background after awhile and his arms dropped back to his side. A telephone call pulled him out of his thoughts and led him back to the waves, back to what he was good at.

Everything had returned to normal at the mansion. The groups were slowly starting to work together with a significant decrease in injuries, Kitty had momentarily lost interest in cooking and Bobby was happy to take her mind off of returning to her cooking attempts by teaching her as many video games as possible. So far she was actually proving to be strong competition in the racing games, probably because she already drove like a crazy person in real life.

Laura had been assisting in fixing the danger room, Bobby and Roberto had put their science lessons to use and saw firsthand what happened when metal heated up and cooled down rapidly, when the Professor called for her. She left Logan and Hank to themselves; they knew that she wouldn't leave without a reason and that she would return as quickly as possible. Bobby and Roberto had been part of the clean up team but when they had caused more damage, it had mainly been Bobby's fault; they had been tasked with removing the garbage under supervision of course.

As far as she was aware she hadn't taken part in any activity that would warrant a visit to the professors' office. She hadn't taken part in any destructive activities and neither had she helped out in any exemplary way. Laura wasn't particularly concerned about why she had been called away, simply curious and wishing to return to her earlier task of helping install more traps in the danger room.

She was beckoned in with another mental call and easily slid into the room before she stopped promptly in front of him, forgoing the option of sitting. With legs shoulder length apart and her hands at her side she looked ready to take an order. Her stance was an improvement from her earlier one that had made soldiers look like misbehaving children.

"Laura, we're going to have a possible student come to the house. This case is slightly different since he has already met the majority of the students and is generally knowledgeable about the activities taken part in at the school. This meeting is more of a formality to see if he is ready to join us at this time. I would like for you give him a tour but more importantly answer any questions that he may have. Do you find that arrangement agreeable?"

He cut straight to the chase, something that he knew she appreciated, and he asked her, something that she was starting to get used to coming from authority figures.

The task was simple enough and it was something that was expected from all of the students. Normally Kitty took on the task of showing around new students, with her easy smile and friendly attitude she was practically the poster child along with Jean and Scott. Since the professor was focusing on getting the possible student information instead of making them feel comfortable Laura did understand why she might be the better choice, unless the information the student required was about social groups.

"Although it would depend on my previous engagements I think that I will be able to successfully complete this mission."

The professor simply smiled and nodded slightly.

"Thank you Laura, I'm sure that we'll be able to come up with a time that suits everyone."

With that she was dismissed and she returned to her thoughts on building a machine that simply reflected or even redirected all attacks made to it, it might prove to be interesting.

Laura smelt him before she saw him, it wasn't hard and his scent was still in some places of the mansion. The noise of the other house members also revealed his presence to her quite easily. She allowed them time to quickly talk but as soon as it was officially time for the re-tour to start to cut through the group to him.

"Forge, I am your guide Laura. I assume that you would appreciate starting off with garage, Logan and Doctor McCoy have been working together recently on upgrades."

Just like that the others melted away and Forge followed after Laura as she started to speak about some of the upgrades that had occurred.

He decided against joining the group; he did however say that he would drop by more often and help with some of the more technical based projects. Laura had already decided that she had not failed her mission. She had been tasked with answering his questions and showing him around the mansion which she had. At no point had her mission depended on him staying permanently and truthfully she was slightly relived that no new people would be entering just yet.

Apparently it was a good thing that no new additions were made to the younger mutants, as proven by the fact that they couldn't even finish a fake mission without wanting to attack each other. The Blackbird was eerily quiet with the more active participants of the argument placed as far away from each other as possible. Laura found herself in the interesting position of being used as a barrier and more interestingly, a good example for the other students. She had been used as an example for training situations, school work, and the fact that she actually followed orders, never before had she been used as a good example for behaviour.

Apparently being used as a good example for behaviour wasn't as appreciated or sought over by your peers as being used as an example for how to temporarily paralyze your opponent with one hit. Nonetheless she took the time to go over the events and find everyone's weak points that she could then report to Wolverine to be fixed through proper training. Although the fake mission had been a failure it had been a useful in its own way, even if none of her fellow younger mutants were about to agree with her at the moment.

They piled out of the Blackbird in single file and were ready to head off to their respective bedrooms when Laura froze in mid step and her head snapped to the entrance. The younger group might not have figured out how to get along most of the time, even the older mutants hadn't mastered that yet, or even how to fully control their powers, but they did know to take Laura seriously. Even though they were tired they still snapped to attention and were ready to attack when they saw a familiar body appear in the hallway. The group instantly attacked when they recognized who it was. With tackles, hugs and questions galore; their victim never stood a chance.

"Are you visiting?"

"Dude! You totally missed me the most right?"

"You brought presents right?"

Laura left the group to their antics, it was far too loud for her liking anyways and they would all be too busy to even notice her absence let alone react to it. Of course this was proven true as everyone swarmed around Alex and appeared to have forgotten about their fight and about Laura.

She was quick to find out that Alex had decided to join them; truthfully she had been 89.6% positive that that was the reason he had returned when she had first caught his scent. The addition to the group however had been confirmed by Kitty since she happened to be the loudest person to yell out that piece of information while Laura had been heading off to her bedroom.

"Laura."

Turning her head to respond to her name being called she noticed that Alex had taken the stairs this time. Judging by her facial expression he seemed pleased enough to see her, his body movements however were stiff and indicated that he felt uncomfortable. There was also a possibility that he had acquired an injury or been retained in an uncomfortable position for a long time but the possibility was quite minimal.

"Yes?"

He knew he shouldn't have expected much but it still managed to dampen his mood slightly when her expression was similar to that of someone who was checking the weather. Actually he had seen better reactions to the weather forecast, which made it even more depressing.

"Hi."

Oh now that was eloquent. 'Hi', not even a hello. So far he had managed to say her name and the shortest form of a greeting that involved actual words. He blamed his last dive off of his surfboard, that or there was something in his genes that made him clueless around girls just like his older brother.

"Hello."

According to proper conduct she had responded in the correct manner, according to what she had learned from the other students he was being awkward. Laura registered slight satisfaction at properly recognizing his lack of social grace in the situation. A note was made to find a more accurate word or term for social grace that would be used by someone of her generation.

She was analyzing him, he just knew it. Granted she didn't actually say anything, and he hadn't picked up any telepathic powers but he was quite sure that she was judging him as any person with any amount of sanity would.

"I'm back. Well obviously I'm back since I'm standing right in front of you and talking, well bumbling like an idiot really. So yeah, I'm back and wanted to see you and tell you that I am back. Oh and I'm staying, for good this time."

On the bright side he had actually spoken; several sentences at that. On the not so bright side he probably looked like an even larger fool than he moments before. Earlier she might have thought that he was a fool, now he had given her proof confirming that thought. It was definitely a genetic thing, he would ask Hank about information in genes and if ridiculousness could be passed on.

"I am aware of your decision to remain at the household. I have been since I first caught your scent when we arrived from our mission."

If he had been confused about what to say earlier he really had no clue what he was supposed to say or do now. Normally he would have had some type of reaction to go off of; happiness, surprise, even disappointment. Alex felt even more foolish for having expected a visible reaction from her in the first place; this was not going as he had haphazardly planned.

"I think it would be best if you were placed on my team. It would be the most efficient since I have the most experience working with you and considering the state of both teams it would be highly recommended to keep sudden changes to a minimum."

Her words were delivered in a straight forward manner and even the most skilled body reader would not have been able to read anything off of her. This didn't matter in the world of Alex Masters however. In the world of Alex Masters he knew that this was probably the closest that he would get to a hug and a welcome back from Laura.

"That sounds great Laura, as long as it doesn't bring down the team or something of course."

He was basically beaming even as he gave her a way out and Laura made another to note to look into this odd behaviour of his.

"You would be a beneficial re-addition to the team. I would not say so if it were otherwise."

With a nod to back up her words Alex tried to keep from looking like an absolute lunatic. Since Laura had yet to back up or ask him if he happened to be drugged it appeared as if he were doing a pretty good job at it.

"Of course your time spent away has probably broken some of the habits you were acquiring. It is possible that it will be even harder for you to be properly re-trained."

This should have dampened his mood but he had been expecting something along those lines. The eager grin and easy nod showed that he was willing to put in the time.

"I actually have a question for you if you do not mind."

Now this surprised him. The fact that she had a question for him was odd enough; the fact that she looked slightly hesitant of all things really surprised him.

"Yeah, of course."

Wild ideas ran through his head. What could she possibly ask him? It was quite obvious that she was one of the most intelligent people in the household and he wouldn't put it past her to be able to find any personal information about him if she wished to.

"Do you think that the cloud to your left that's at an approximately forty five degree angle from you possibly looks like a flower?"

For a second he looked at her in confusion, he had not expected to be asked that out of all of the possible questions. When he noticed her slight uncertainty however he looked to his left and spotted the cloud that he guessed she had been talking about. With the puffs it actually did look like a flower that a child might draw, his mother day cards had been covered in them.

"I can see it."

His confirmation brought a small smile on her face that she quickly hid. Alex considered himself luck that he had still managed to catch a glimpse of it.

"I have taken up cloud watching recently. It is still confusing at times but oddly relaxing and similar to meditation."

By now his large grin had calmed down to a non-creepy smile.

"I've been able to identify all of the types of vegetation you taught me about. No more poison ivy incidents."

Laura nodded before she turned back around to look out onto the grounds. She patted the seat beside her and he eagerly joined her, although he did try and cover up his excitement a bit. There were no warm greetings, exclamations of missing each other or even a welcome back but it was perfectly fine for them. It was easier to stare at the grounds in silence only broken up by her pointing out strategic points or him spotting an interesting cloud. When they moved on to possible training schedules or techniques Alex was certain that he had made the right choice with his new definition of normal.


End file.
